Cloud communications (VoIP, hosted PBX, virtual PBX, UC, hosted telephony) has revolutionised the way businesses communicate and collaborate.
Not a bold statement, we know. However, if we had a pound for every time we heard the phrase ‘our phone system doesn’t allow us to transfer calls’ we wouldn’t be writing this bulletin.
With the news of the ISDN switch-off some businesses will be forced to move to some form of cloud communications system.
Coupled with this, the resistance of employees coming into the office means businesses need a communications platform to meet collaboration requirements. Employees will continue to drive demand for better business tools.
We’re so-called entering a new wave of cloud communications with the focus on EX and CX – a shortened and fancy way of saying employee and customer experience.
CX + EX demand a UC + CC solution. Head spinning? What we mean by this is in order to get the employee and customer experience right a suitable cloud communications platform is required. One that is integrated and agile.
8×8 are leaning into this heavily and with great effect. Their eXperience Communications Platform delivers voice, video, chat and contact centre plus analytics, AI and APIs. Providing a single experience on one platform.
As RingCentral point out in their podcast, poor EX and CX is bad for business.
We’ve also seen Zoom take a similar approach by adding Zoom Phone to their portfolio of products and allowing integration with Teams and other software plugins.
Let’s get into this week’s bulletin.
Business communication trends 2022
Before you say it, we know it’s almost May. However, when a great piece of content come along, we feel we have to share it.
8×8 have created an eBook that looks beyond 2022 and what the future holds for cloud communication, agility, CX, EX and all the other X’s.
National Telephone Day
In case you missed it, we did (oops), it was National Telephone Day on April 25th.
To mark the occasion RingCentral created these mind-blowing facts about phones.
3 ways to meet the new hybrid expectations with Microsoft Teams
It wouldn’t be a cloud communications bulletin without including some Microsoft Teams content.
They have some changes coming to improve their collaboration and equip organisations for hybrid working.
2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for UCaas
When the 2021 Gartner® Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a service (UCaaS) was released, everyone here at Blackstar was thrilled to see the names of four of our strategic partners in the top-right Leaders quadrant.
Read our blog here
Choosing the right VoIP phone system
Do you need help figuring out which VoIP phone system is right for you?
The contents include:
- What is VoIP and the benefits
- Beyond financial benefits
- Different types of solutions
- Key purchase considerations
- Key questions checklist
- Making the best choice
- Out VoIP phone system
Top 7 reasons Microsoft Teams direct routing is so popular
Microsoft Teams introduced direct routing so companies could bring their existing communication providers into Teams.
Find out why direct routing is so popular in this article by UC Today.
Private cloud Vs public cloud: What’s the difference?
Choosing between public cloud deployment for your cloud communication deployment is an important decision
In our blog, we outline the advantages and disadvantages of both.
Our cloud communication partners
We believe in ‘Your Communications Your Way’ which is why we partner with a range of cloud communications partners that are leaders in their field, including:
